Google Chrome Browser Gets V8 Crankshaft Booster

Yesterday's Google event in San Francisco was all about Chrome and Google's own data says that Chrome, the browser, is being used by 120 million people, which according to it, equates to one in three internet users.

The demos yesterday not only showed how fast Google Chrome was and how speed was primordial to the web experience on Google's browser, but it also showed some new features that may help Chrome grab even more marketshare.

The browser's Javascript engine, V8, has been "enhanced" with the addition of Crankshaft, which Google says, will make it twice as fast as before or 100 times faster than what IE was two years ago.

Google Instant for example is now in Chrome's omnibox, eliminating the need to go to Google.com. The browser also integrates PDF viewing, which is great but a tad useless if you want to actually SAVE the PDF file beforehand.

Another notable addition is native hardware acceleration support which allows the browser to make full use of a computer's GPU which allows for significant performance boosts.

The downside is that if your computer comes with an integrated graphics module, then improvements are likely to be negligible.